SoMa: He's the Meister
by TsunTsunSama
Summary: Maka's new at the DWMA, just in time for orientation. Who will she be partnered up with, and what will happen from there? The goal is to present the DWMA in an entirely new way. More realistic. Also SoMa because when they're in a room together I decide romance is needed. It may get a bit weird, as fans of my work know. So. Don't read summaries, read the story!
1. Orientation

Author Comments: Before we begin, let's cover the basics. It's alternate universe. And I'm going to be covering a few themes from the real world. Also, we're gonna have a Soul and Maka romance subplot because I'm too devoted to the couple to do anything else. But my goal in writing this is to present the DWMA in a totally new way. Some things will be familiar, some different. I'm trying to write it like this was the world we actually live in, and that world is much more complicated than the black and white of Soul Eater. Also, this actually has little things like history and backstory. It's going to be a little different, as fans of my stuff already know. But as always, enjoy. That's all I care about. Also, I think this first chapter is a bit bad from a pure entertainment standpoint. I promise, it's the only one. Read the rest! Go! Shoo! Read! Now! Don't listen to some idiot talk.

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They hold Weapon and Meister orientation separate. Meister orientation is in the auditorium. The air conditioned auditorium. With chairs. The Weapons have to huddle outside, whatever the weather. And at the moment, that weather is pouring, freezing rain. Maka's cold, wet, and seething with rage. She wishes that she had shredded that letter when it first came. 'Congratulations, you've been accepted to the DWMA!' Had read the bright, cheerful letters, with the signature of Lord Death himself at the bottom. Anyone else would have been overjoyed, but not Maka. She had bad memories of this place. Mostly to do with her father. So getting sent off by her mother was not a decision she had supported. But here she was, in the downpour. For orientation. Huzzah...

"Alright!" Bellows an instructor up front. He's tall, caucasian, and has ridiculous, oddly short dreadlocks. Quite frankly Maka finds him annoying. "In a moment you all get to go inside. There, we'll start the choosing process. Remember, it's the Meister's decision who to partner up with, so respect it. They'll be choosing in order of skill, and you all will be arranged in order of power, to help them decide." The instructor clears his throat. "Also, my apologies for the weather, however, it's necessary. We find it's best to put the Weapons through a little hardship. It makes them easier for the Meisters to read. Now. When I call a name, you head into the gym there, and start the line. There's a strip of red tape to mark where it should be." He points to the nearby building. Maka wonders who's going to be called. She has no idea who any of these people are, since she lived too far away to transfer in with friends. No idea who's any good. There's a moment while the instructor fiddles with a clipboard, then calls- "Maka Albarn!" The girl is dumbstruck. Out of all these people, she's at the top? But no time to wonder about it, time to start walking. Maka heads through the doors, her long black coat dripping on the floor. Suddenly annoyed by how utterly soaked she is, the girl tries to wring out her ash blonde hair as best as possible, but it's getting water all over the floor and she feels guilty enough to quit. Looking around, Maka spies the strip of tape, so she takes up her position as more students file in. Next is a tall, raven haired girl in a white dress. Maka pities her. It was clinging to her skin in a really... unfortunate way. Every pervert in the school would be ogling. After her is a pair of elegant, fashionable blondes in tight jeans and red tops. Maka almost snarls at them. She hates girls like that, more concerned with appearance than anything else. Well, at the very least they were as wet as everyone else. Maybe a little vindictive, but she didn't really care. After them she ignores the rest of the procession, until all fifty Weapons are lined up across the gym. A different instructor, this one a scholarly type in a white lab coat, calmly issues orders.

"The Meisters will be in shortly. If you are asked to assume Weapon form, comply. If they tell you to come with them, you're partners. That will be all." He steps into the background as the first of the Meisters walks in. It's a guy, middling height, dressed in black, with charcoal colored hair and a pale, refined face. And dare she say absolutely gorgeous? Maka's eyes are slightly drawn to him as he passes, but then she reverts back to staring at the wall. No. Idiot. Don't do that. He browses the line, walking back and forth, back and forth. How long was this guy going to take? Cuteness notwithstanding, he was getting extremely annoying. Finally a dry, deadpan voice resounds throughout the silent room.

"Them." He says, pointing at the pair of blondes. "Kindly change, merely to satisfy my curiosity." The pair glows, becoming a pair of stylish silver pistols. The guy grabs them out of the air, inspecting them. Finally he nods in approval. "Follow me." He says, stalking out of the gym as the two change back and trail after him. The instructor from outside, who is manning the door, bows deeply as he passes. Now what was that about? But Maka doesn't have much time to worry about it. New Meister in the room. It's another guy.

"Hmm." He mutters in a deep, rasping baritone. This one is somewhat tall, with tanned skin and spiky gray hair that radiates around his head. He's wearing a black leather jacket, matching jeans, and a bright orange shirt. And to top it all off his eyes are an unsettling crimson, so bright they seem to glow. But they're quickly closed in concentration as he repeats the ritual of the weird kid from earlier. Like a pendulum he swings blind across the line, sometimes inspecting someone like a cut of meat. Maka finds him extremely unsettling. He's actually really cute when he doesn't _move_. But when he starts doing anything, there's this sense of subtle unease coating his every action. Finally he stops at Maka. "If you wouldn't mind." He asks. It isn't really phrased like a question. The girl is already closing her eyes, reaching for the well of power deep within her. There's a brilliant flash across her vision, leaving little spots. And suddenly she's in her Room. It's sparsely furnished with two chairs and an artistic coffee table between them. The floor is tiled black and white, and the ceiling fades into darkness like an infinite starless sky. But it's the walls that are really interesting. They wrap all the way around the room, showing her the world outside. She sees the Meister, holding a sword. It's a single edged, silvery white blade, slightly curved at the end, with a handle carved in intricate runes that smoothly transitions into the blade. There is no guard. He does an experimental twirl and Maka can almost feel the rushing breeze as the sword cuts through the air. "You can turn back now." He tells her, and she's mostly glad it's over. She wasn't picked, oh well, he was kind of a creep anyway. There's another brilliant glow and Maka is back in the gym, dripping on the floor. "Follow me." He says. _**Wait, what!**_

"Uh..." She starts. What was going on here? They were partners? Why did he just choose her? Out of reflex more than anything else she starts walking beside him.

"I said c'mon. Do you need a change of clothes or something?" He asks as they go out through the doors, pushing past this short, muscular, blue haired guy. Well. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. I mean, he was the_ first freaking person_ to ask that. But Maka was still in a state of partial shock. The person she would be spending the rest of her education with, possibly life with, and it's decided in two words from someone she doesn't even know. The girl already had a headache. This was way weirder than she had deluded herself into thinking it would be. Like, how could she have ever thought this would be even close to normal? How did she manage to convince herself that on the way here? If she could only figure it out she could make a fortune as a hypnotist.

"When we're done I have some in my bag... but I don't know where it is. They said they'd deliver it to my residence, whatever that means..." He grunts. "So..." Maka is going to make conversation if it kills her. "Hi. I'm Maka. And you are?"

"Soul Eater." He replies. Ok. Definitely creepy. They're turning and twisting down a maze of stone hallways, and Maka is thoroughly confused about where they are. She hasn't really been paying attention, instead studying Soul, and trying to calm the whirlwind in her head.

"Where are we going?" She asks.

"Office. Need to get signed up. Then they're going to give us some idiotic 'get to know eachother' homework and we're going to head out."

"Head out to..."

"My place." He replies. Once again, _**what?**_

"I'm going to your _house!_" Maka squeaks. Didn't they have dorms or something? If at all possible Maka would even take a cardboard box in an alleyway over staying with this... Soul person. She doesn't know him at _all!_

"Apartment, actually. But yup. Standard DWMA rules." She can almost hear the sarcastic air quotes when he continues- "It fosters community among Weapon and Meister as they begin their journey together." Maka can't help it, she giggles a little. "But yeah, sorry if it freaks you out. It's not my decision. And to be honest I'm kinda a slob so..." She realizes he's probably just as uncomfortable with this as she was. Therefore, she's going to be cheerful. Things had already been done, because presumably he couldn't take her back to the gym and ask for a refund like he was returning a broken record. No... she would have to make the best of it...

"Well, it'll be fine. So, describe it to me! Your apartment I mean." Maka says, already adjusting. If there was one thing she could do it was settle into a new place, what with traveling all over the world. Her mother always said she was too much of a restless soul to settle down, which basically meant Maka was somewhere new every six months. It had become a way of life. Now if only she could extend _that_ to _this_, things might settle into something resembling normalcy.

"Uh. My apartment... let's see. There's a living room in the middle. A bedroom. Guest room. Kitchen. Bathroom in each of the bedrooms." He shrugs. "It's pretty basic." Well, it sounded larger than half the places Maka had stayed in in the past two years. That was something. "Though I'm gonna need to clean out the guest room." That was something, but not in a good way. But before Maka can ask more, Soul says- "We're here." They're outside a pair of unremarkable glass doors, just like hundreds of others they had passed. Soul pushes open the door and they head in, to be confronted by... is it a mummy? Maka can see a strip of chocolate brown skin with hazel colored eyes around a mess of bandages covered in a nurses outfit. Long, twisted ropes of hair stick out at odd angles from what Maka assumes is a head.

"Afternoon Soul. Or is it morning?" Comes a soft, soothing voice, like dripping honey.

"It's morning Naigus." He tells her, stepping up to the desk that the mummy is seated behind.

"So, who might this be?" The mummy thing asks.

"Maka Albarn." Maka replies.

"Humm. Albarn... Albarn... ah yes. Very high marks. Quite commendable. By the by, a small question."

"Mhmm?"

"Is your mother Kami Albarn, by any possible chance? I went to school with her you see."

"Yup. That's my Mama." Maka can hardly believe this bandage wrapped monstrosity was as old as her mom. That was... more than a little strange.

"Ahh. You should be proud, little one. She did after all create Lord Death's personal Weapon." Maka narrows her eyes. The Weapon in question was her father, and any mention of him was liable to send her into a fury. Stupid, cheating _bastard_. He was one of the few things she felt comfortable swearing about, though only mentally. "Or maybe I shouldn't bring that up." Naigus mutters, scribbling industriously on a form. With a brief ripping noise she hands it to Soul. "Here you are. Merely have this ready for all your teachers on the first day, then you can throw it out."

"Ok. Thanks. See ya." Soul calls, a series of short, sharp sounds. They're back out in the halls, going down a flickering, torch lit staircase.

"So, who's she?"

"The nurse. And she fills in for the secretary when she's... indisposed."

"Indisposed? What do you mean?"

"Uh, no. Not answering that one." They descend into a large, spacious garage. Soul pulls a set of keys out of his jacket pocket, spinning them around his finger as they walk along the concrete slab. He pauses at a big, black motorcycle with stylized orange designs chasing across it. Maka has to admit, it's a really sweet bike. Soul sticks in the keys and twists, producing a steady thrum from the engine. "Get on." He tells her.

"Do we have helmets?" She asks, eyeing the thing dubiously. Sweet bike yes. But less so if she falls off and kisses the considerably less sugary pavement at sixty miles an hour. Soul chuckles dryly, already seated and ready to go.

"Do we have helmets." He laughs, and Maka sighs. That would be on her list of things she definitely needed to buy. Hesitantly she climbs on behind him. Does she wrap her arms around his waist? That's what they did in movies. But for whatever odd reason, like maybe him being a complete stranger, she doesn't want to be all pressed up against him. Though admittedly, he seems pretty cool so far. Maka eventually decides on holding onto his shoulders. It may not be the safest, but it doesn't involve any awkwardness. He revs the bike and it _roars_, then sends them shooting out of the garage and onto the road.

* * *

Author Comments: Ok. So I don't like this chapter much, but I am really digging the second one. Also, it starts a bit slow kiddies. The goal here is for this to be a real, novel length story. So bear with me if I get into exposition. But really, go read chapter two. Pretty please?


	2. Get to Know Eachother

Author Comments: Ok, I got to play with their personalities a bit here. And Soul's apartment is basically taken directly from how my older brother's room looks. Seriously. It's this bad.

* * *

The apartment seems to be in a pretty good part of town, Maka notices as they rumble into a private garage. Soul leads her up the steps, spinning his keys around his finger as he did. Then he unlocks the door and they head in. Maka looks around. Wow. When he said slob, he wasn't kidding. Dirty laundry forms a fine carpet across the floor, speckled here and there with dishes in desperate need of cleaning.

"Watch where you step." He says, crossing to a disheveled couch and flopping down. Maka notices her bag is already here, casually thrown on top of an old pizza slice. _Ugh_. She daintily picks it up something like she might touch a dead animal. Then she turns to Soul.

"Where's the dishwasher. And the washing machine." This place desperately needs help. It was going to be a long afternoon... Soul gestures to a closet, then the kitchen respectively. "Check in those places." He says. Maka's already scooping up a collection of clothes, getting a pleasant whiff of body odor.

"So, do you just buy new stuff when the old things run out?" She asks sarcastically.

"Hey, I wash shit sometimes." Maka sighs and throws her armload into the washer. Great. Now there's a tiny island. Soul watches bemusedly from the couch as she starts making a pile of plates and puts them in the dishwasher. "So. Ready to see your room yet?" He asks with a certain wry amusement.

"Is it as bad as this?"

"Worse." He admits freely. "But at least it doesn't smell." Long. Afternoon. He shows her in, and Maka is absolutely astonished. It actually was, somehow, exponentially more awful. There's random trash everywhere, of such bewildering variety she almost can't describe it. Loose linens speckle the floor. There's crumpled sheets of paper everywhere, and odd bits of furniture, only half of them upright. Well, at least none of it was food. Though was that a toilet brush in the corner?

"Can I uh..." Maka asks, stunned. "Sleep somewhere um. Else? Tonight?" Soul rubs the back of his head.

"Yeah. Take my room. I'll use the couch."

"Is it..."

"Actually it's fairly clean. C'mon." He leads her two doors over. Actually, he's right. Aside from a cluttered desk, and a few scattered books, the place isn't totally trashed. Well. Maka turns to Soul.

"Ok, I'm not even going to _try_ and fix this today." She says with no small amount of despair. "But tomorrow, will you mind helping me out?"

"Sure." He replies. Though Maka isn't really sure how useful he was going to be. He was, after all, the one who did this in the first place.

"Ok. Well, earlier didn't you say something about like... homework? Earlier? Let's do that." Soul falls over on the bed, his strange hair in a halo around his head.

"You really care about that bullshit?"

"Well, yeah. I'd like to make a good first impression."

"Mkay. I'll grab it I guess." He comes back a moment later with the sheet from the mummy. Maka's already grabbed a pencil off his desk.

"Here. I'll write." She offers. Soul hands her the sheet and sits down on the bed beside her. "Let's see... question one." Maka mutters. "Ask your partner what their favorite parts of being a Weapon or Meister are." She splits the space in half, labeling one side 'Soul' and the other 'Maka' and says "So. What are they?" He thinks a minute.

"The music." He replies.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Maka's never heard of something like this before.

"Well, you know how Meister's can see souls right?" He asks. Maka nods. All Meisters could see, and, if they were touching the body of the person, manipulate souls. It gave them amazing insight into people, and allowed them to draw on the magical power of the Weapons. "Well, I don't see them quite right. I mean, it's different for everyone, but I don't see anything at all. Instead I hear music. That's what I was doing in the gym. Listening to the songs everyone was playing." He explains. Maka scribbles it down, and asks

"So what did I sound like?" He answers almost immediately.

"Well it changes based on the person's mood. But you actually had a few songs. There was this sad, slow one, like a waltz, playing in the background. And then this dramatic one, full of these calm steady notes. Very... soothing almost. It was forceful, lots of these loud kinds of notes you'd find in like, hard rock or something. But it was a lot more calm. Just there. Didn't try and take over. And these little strains of a peppy little beat, very quick and sharp." Maka mulls it over. He isn't really describing it very well at all. "So, how about you. The whole weapon thing." Maka takes a moment to think. What was special about it? It just was, like your heart beating. Nothing interesting at all.

"My Room." She decides at last.

"Room?" He asks, confused. "What?"

"Don't you know anything?" Maka demands. "That's like elementary school stuff!" He was a slacker and a slob. Brilliant.

"Humor me." He deadpans. Maka gives a frustrated sigh.

"Ok, all weapons when they change have a Room. Like a little space in your head that you go to when you change. If you concentrate, you can make furniture and stuff. And you can move around and do things. But there's always some way to look at what's happening around you."

"Yeah? Like what? And do you just look like yourself in there or..." Maka can't believe he doesn't know all this already.

"Well, like the walls around my room show what's happening. I've heard of people having televisions, crystal balls, all kinds of cool stuff. Anything that can display an image. And you just look like yourself. You can wear whatever you want of course. But you're always just you." He mulls this over.

"Huh. Ok. So. Next question?" Maka looks it over.

"Ask your partner what their hobbies are."

"Definitely music." He replies. "And people. Like, friends. All that crap."

"Do you know anybody here?" Maka asks.

"Oh yeah. I've already been here a month."

"Wait what!" Maka stops what she was writing. "You've already been here that long?" It would explain the mess...

"Meisters come early. Didn't you know?"

"Well... it kind of makes sense now how you know your way around. I thought you lived around here or something."

"Yeah. I don't even know why they do it. They said something about wanting to select Weapons who would go well with the Meisters."

"I guess that makes sense." Maka mutters. Though it isn't really that fair. Oh well. The Meisters always got special treatment.

"So how about you? Any hobbies?"

"Well... I like to cook. And read. I would usually make dinner, whatever nights I wasn't overloaded with homework."

"Well, they don't assign that much here." He says. That's interesting. Maka would be looking forward to that.

"Ok, last one." Maka tells him, then reads the question aloud. "Attempt to resonate with your partner. This is entirely optional and unlikely to be successful as it is the first day." Maka purses her lips. "Not much of a question." But she's interested. Resonating was one of the most difficult parts of making a Weapon-Meister pair work. If you understood eachother, the Meister could draw and shape the power inside a Weapons soul, to do all kinds of cool stuff. The better the two knew eachother, the better it worked and the more power the Meister could use. Maka wanted to try it.

"Well, let's go for it." He seems to be waiting for something...

"Oh! Right! Sorry!" Maka hastily closes her eyes and changes. She's in her Room, bouncing from foot to foot as she watches Soul. He's got her laid across his knees, both hands gripping the shaft. His eyes are closed in deep concentration. Then suddenly, there's... a twinge. Almost like she's changing. A scattering of dark, gloomy notes echo throughout the Room. But they fade in and out, but they're close, and Maka's desperate to succeed. She always wants to do her best, no matter the situation. But as soon as she thinks that, the music fades out, and disappears. Soul opens his eyes, and Maka stops feeling the peculiar twinge.

"Enough trying." He tells her with a yawn. Maka changes back and glares at him, hands on her hips.

"We almost had it!"

"Yeah, but you wanted it too much."

"Huh?" She's confused. What's he talking about? Wanted it too much?

"You were trying too hard. It's all about matching up, understanding eachother, right? And... I mean, damn you're competitive. Or something. And I just don't get that." He leans back. But Maka isn't going to let this go.

"One more try? Please?" She begs.

"First, chill out." But he doesn't seem opposed to the idea. "But ok. C'mon. Change." Maka does, and Soul snatches the naginata out of the air. "Ok." He mutters. "Let's try this again." Maka hears the music, louder than ever. Dark and eerie, it drifts through the room like a chill breeze. Then in a sudden rush, the entire world seems to contract and expand. Maka's dizzied, but suddenly she hears the music, loud and clear. Was this how Soul understood people? The tune makes her shiver as she watches what he'll do next. Slowly, his eerie eyes open. Then he grins, and Maka sees his teeth are pointed. Thats... ok. She wasn't going to comment. Soul concentrates, and liquid fire flows from his hand, coating the blade. Maka feels the drain on her energy, and she has to sit in one of the leather armchairs. It's inefficient, it's tenuous, but they were resonating. "Ok. We're done." He tells her.

"Told you we could!" Maka sing songs cheerily. She can talk to him even in her Room, as long as they're resonating. It's something she's almost never done, and Maka has to confess, it's really cool. Telepathy, magic, reading each others emotions, resonance was an amazing tool to master. And she has to admit, he isn't as bad as she thought at first. Though the whole teeth eyes hair thing is just weird. Maka changes back and sits on the bed, bouncing a little. Soul looks on with amusement.

"Someone's happy." He says in a wry, amused tone.

"Mhmm!" Maka replies. Then she yawns. "Though I'm actually exhausted. I flew in from Korea earlier and I'm super jet lagged."

"Well then I'll leave you alone." Soul gets up and heads for the door. "See you tomorrow. We needa wake up at like seven to get our teacher assignment." He shrugs. "Lot to do." Maka nods wearily.

"'Kay. See you in the morning." Moments later she falls asleep, in her clothes and everything. Life had changed...

* * *

Author Comments: Next chapter may be the only first day of school I'm looking forward to. And, I'm gonna write in super shounen combat scenes. Yay! Time to watch loud AMVs and plan something fighty.


	3. Hide and Seek with Stein

Author Comments: Ok. So excited. Read this page. I get to introduce Stein. Fangirling.

* * *

It's around eight when they manage to get to school. Maka's changed clothes, though she still has on the coat. However now she's in her school uniform, which consists of a red and black skirt, white dress shirt, and a plain, yellow-tan sleeveless sweater. Maka and Soul walk up the steep stairs to the building, heading back to the auditorium. There's a mass of students milling around. When they walk in, there's a loud whistle. The dreadlocked instructor is up front.

"Listen up. I'm going to read off the names of each instructor. The Meisters all know their rank, and depending on that you'll report to a teacher." He pauses a moment. "This is for the EAT class only. NOT comes later."

"EAT?" Maka whispers to Soul.

"Especially Advanced Talent. That's us." He replies quietly. "The NOT kids are here just because they live in Death City."

"Rank fifty through forty one." The instructor calls "You're with Spirit Albarn."

"Isn't that your last name? I mean, he's _the_ Death Scythe. Lord Death's, personally." Yes, her dad was the personal Weapon of Lord Death, the god and protector of the entire world. That didn't make him a good person. In fact, it made it worse that such an awful example of humanity had made it that far.

"Shut up." Maka answers fiercely. "Yes we're related. Don't bring it up again." Soul gives her a funny look. Ok. Not mentioning him again. He wondered what had happened between them.

"Ranks forty through thirty one. You're going to be with Naigus. Thirty through twenty one, you're with me. Twenty through eleven, Marie. And ten through one, you're with Stein."

"Oh fuck." Soul mutters. "This is gonna suck..."

"Why? Who's Stein?"

"Let's just say he has a reputation. As in, possibly responsible for several murders. And _definitely_ responsible for a large number of dangerous experiments." Soul sighs. "But I suppose we would have to deal with him sooner or later. He runs the EAT extracurricular program."

"General assembly for EAT classes in the practice field. Before Maka can ask what the 'extracurricular program' is, Soul's dragging her along. "We do _not_ want to be late. Hurry it up." Maka stumbles along, gets her balance, and half walks, half jogs after him. They get out of the building and head a bit over, following a flow of students. They get to a big, open mat of grass, like a soccer field, but unmarked. Soul leads her over to the man from earlier, the guy in the lab coat. He's hunched over in the middle, studying something, his greasy grey hair hanging down his face. Maka and Soul cluster around him, along with the rest of their group. Stein ignores them for a minute, poking and prodding a snake. With a sudden smooth motion, he yanks it up and holds it up in the air for the students to see.

"This is, admittedly, a rather ordinary creature." He informs them. "But it will serve for the first lesson." His free hands flicks, and a surgical scalpel appears in it. With a deliberate jerk, he spills the snakes guts. Maka hurriedly looks away with a little squeak. _Gross gross gross._ "That is what will happen to you if you don't pass my class." Stein continues. "My name is Professor Stein, and I'm going to be your instructor. Also, as you all are in the top ten, participation in the extracurricular class is mandatory."

"Shiiiiit." Soul mutters, drawing it out into a groan.

"Precisely Mr. Eater." The Professor replies. "It isn't going to be, as you might have hoped, easy. You all are the top Weapons and Meisters in the world. Much is expected." He grins evilly. "Now for lesson one. You all are going to play a game of hide and seek with me. Those woods there." He gestures to a forest adjacent to the field. "I've reserved them for our use. To win, all you have to do is find me and bring me back here. Simple? Everyone understand?" The group nods. "Count to fifty. You can use lethal force." Then he strides off into the woods, his long coat billowing behind him.

"Um. What?" Maka asks. The entire group has started talking at once, and she can barely hear Soul when he replies-

"He supposedly does this every year. People end up in the infirmary from it. Nobody has _ever_ successfully gotten him back here."

"...And the lethal force thing..."

"He thinks it makes it interesting. For him. And he's never permanently injured someone." Soul looks into the forest. "Yet."

"It's been fifty seconds." The dark clothed Meister Maka saw at orientation murmurs. "Let us be off." The group moves off into the forest, spreading out a bit. The woods are dark and quiet. Maka feels chilled to the bone. But then she shakes her head. Scared of trees. No. Not going to happen. She sticks by Soul as they head deeper in.

"Aaaaaah!" Someone screams. It's one of the ditzy blondes, also someone Maka saw in the orientation. "She's gone!" Her Meister, the dark kid, looks around wildly. People start to panic. A tall, african american guy is spinning wildly. Soul looks at Maka.

"We got two options. Stay here or try and run for it. Who knows, we might last longer." Suddenly, the choice is taken out of their hands. This geeky guy with ridiculous glasses and his partner are standing back to back at the rim of the group. The geek shifts into an axe, which suddenly starts burning with a bright golden yellow flame. His partner swings it wildly at a darting figure in the trees beyond, just out of sight.

"Back!" His partner calls. But the edge of the flames trail through a branch, and there's a crackle of flame. The entire tree goes up like kindling as the magical fire flickers and dances through it, spreading through the forest.

"Run!" Maka yells at Soul, grabbing his hand and sprinting off into the forest. Smoke billows and other students scream, too confused and panicked to even have a hope. Soul and Maka finally quit. She's panting, out of breath. He hardly seems winded. Stupid Meisters, being stronger than normal people wasn't fair. But she notices he's rubbing one ear, a look of annoyance on his face. Then his face drains of color.

"Change. Now." Maka does it without hesitation.

"What's wrong?" She asks in a panic, looking around at the walls of her room for any hint of danger.

"This noise in my ears. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. And it was extremely loud. I think it's Stein." Moments later he's proved right. The Professor comes striding out of the woods.

"As always, excellent work on the detection Mr. Eater." Stein calls. "You know, this year has been a little disappointing. I do believe you two are the last ones standing, and it's only been ten minutes." Soul holds the naginata in a high guard, and Maka's surprised. He seems very familiar with the weapon.

"We'll try and do a bit better." Her Meister remarks blandly. Maka smiles fiercely. She's excited, riding an adrenaline high like a wave.

"Let's try resonating. Worth a shot." She tells Soul. Stein has started to stride forward, calmly closing the distance.

"Hell yeah." They both concentrate hard. Maka hears strains of haunting music, solidifying and intensifying. It's going much faster than last night, and with one final push the link is established. Stein suddenly hurtles forward, the coat flapping. Soul just waits.

"Get out of the way!" Maka cries, startled.

"I know what I'm doing." Soul growls. When he's only a few steps away Stein sweeps his wrist in a smooth motion, sending a sparkling scalpel hurtling through the air at them.

"Coming for your head!" Maka says, her voice tight with tension. Soul twists the blade a few degrees, and the little streak of metal bounces off and buries itself among the leaves. Stein lunges forward, striking out with one hand. Soul dances back two steps, twists to the side away from another punch, and sweeps the naginata at Stein's back. The Professor twists slightly, barely seeming to move, and the blade goes whistling by. He completes the motion, turning fully, and grabs the shaft. With a sudden hard yank, Soul stumbles off balance, staggering into a hard knee between his legs. The music in her head breaks off with a sudden harsh crash, like someone slamming down on as many piano keys as they can. Their resonance is gone. Maka goes flying, the naginata's supernaturally sharp blade burying itself in a tree. She quickly changes out as the Professor and Soul start dueling back and forth. Stein is obviously the better of the two, contemptuously dodging Soul by the barest of margins. Her Meister is moving like a kickboxer, darting in for a flurry of strikes and then quickly stepping back. Maka yells at the top of her lungs, trying to distract the Professor. She tries to barrel into him, but he slips to one side, grabs her collar, and slams her head into a tree. There's a burst of stars but she staggers to her feet. A trickle of blood runs down her head, getting in her eyes. That was going to be annoying.

"Soul! Get back!" She runs forward, aiming a little bit behind her Meister. Then she jumps, changing in midair as she did. She becomes the naginata, hurtling through the air into Soul's waiting hand. Back on even footing.

"Very clever Ms. Albarn." Stein comments, walking forward again. "Sixteen minutes so far. The record is twenty two. Think you can last another six?" His pace accelerates so smoothly Maka almost doesn't notice that he's broken into a run. Quickly, the pair reform their resonance.

"Got an idea." Soul mutters as the Professor approaches. "This might be a little rough." maka feels him start to draw on her energy, and the entire shaft of the naginata starts to glow. Her head spinning, Maka crumples to the floor. It was hard to keep the resonance up, but she manages, barely holding on to consciousness. Stein is a mere ten feet away. Suddenly, like a solid object formed of glowing, musical notes, the blade extends and lengthens, burning like a white hot fire as the notes dance along it's length. Soul swings the shining blade down, and the notes shoot forward, a discordant harmony accompanying the wave of energy as it hurtles for the Professor. Who calmly catches it with a swift motion.

"Forming a blast of magical energy. Interesting idea. Quite likely lethal on even extremely tough beings. Definitely on a human." He looks at the energy in annoyance as it boils like a living thing, trying to strain forward. "However, equally easily countered if you know what you're doing." With a casual shove, the notes drift apart with a _twang_ like a string breaking. The wave is gone, and the Professor strides forward again.

"Got anything left?" Soul asks.

"Barely conscious." Maka replies weakly.

"Now if you wanted to be using soul energy." The Professor continues. "You might try something like this." With a single long step he closes the distance, jabbing a hand into Soul's chest. There's a crackle and the smell of ozone, then Soul is lifted off his feet to go crashing into a tree. He barely holds onto the naginata as he drops back to the ground, and Maka can see a scorched, charred spot on his shirt. "An application of electrical shocks, delivered directly to avoid allowing the Meister to counter." Stein concludes, coming forward again. "Now. Class dismissed." And his fist comes down, crashing into Soul's head. He crumples to the forest floor and Maka shifts back, barely standing, leaning over him.

"Soul? SOUL!" She shakes him vigorously. Stein stands over the pair.

"He's just unconscious. Likely no concussion." He deadpans.

"Likely? What kind of teacher are you!" Maka yells at him.

"The practical kind." Is the bland reply. "Real enemies aren't going to give you a chance. They're just going to kill you." But he helps the girl lift her Meister up. "I have other students to round up. Some of them likely have broken bones, so I'll need to be making trips out." Then he walks off into the woods. "Twenty three minutes." He calls over his shoulder. "Congratulations." Then he disappears into the twisting shadows. Maka hauls Soul through the woods back for the school. This was officially a nightmare. The fire had burned out, and the only thing to really worry about was making sure Soul didn't hit anything. Twistedly, she was interested. This was real training. And that meant Maka wanted to win. She made a silent promise to herself, dragging Soul through the leaves. She was going to beat the Professor, together with Soul. They were going to be the best.

* * *

Author Comments: Maybe a bit of a touching moment there? I'm writing Maka not to be quite sure of how she feels about Soul, but I let her worry for him show through a little here. Also, music magic is fun. I wants it.


	4. Family Matters

Soul opens his eyes, feeling jabbing, pricking pain as he does. His head was a ball of dull, throbbing agony, beating in time with his heart. Why did everything hurt so damn much? Oh. That's right. Crazy asshole professors. Why didn't he think of that before?

"Hey, Soul. You awake?" Comes a high soft voice somewhere to his left. Surprisingly, he manages to turn his head. Maka's by the bed, sitting on a wooden stool.

"Time." Soul groans. "How long?"

"Only an hour. Well, it also took me a bit to get you back here. So maybe an hour and a half?"

"Great. How's everyone else?"

"A few people have minor fractures." She gives a worried look over her shoulder, and Soul realizes they aren't alone. The entire room is filled with sleeping or comatose students. "And some people got a bad amount of smoke. They're in a different-" Maka breaks off and looks to the door. Soul follows her gaze to see Naigus, heading for his bed with a medical chart.

"And how might you be doing Mr. Evans?" Murmurs the nurse.

"Absolutely fucking great Naigus." Soul grumbles.

"Well at least you have your tongue back." The mummy-woman replies bemusedly. "Your chart checks out, there doesn't seem to be anything too wrong with you. Though I'll need to have a few words with Stein. He really pushed it this time."

"He pushes it every time, from what I've heard."

"Too true. Still. He broke his record for major fractures this year." She sighs. "He doesn't even consider how that will affect the students academically." Suddenly, a golden haired woman in a long black dress pops in, one eye looking slightly frantic. The other is covered with a patch.

"Is Stein here!" She asks, sounding panicked.

"Third door to the right, with the smoke victims." Naigus replies.

"Who was that?" Maka asks as the woman darts back out into the corridor.

"Marie. I'll tell you about her later." Soul answers.

"I'm just wondering why she asked about Stein of all people. Not say..." The girl waves to the rest of the room.

"Because she's completely obsessed with him. Yes, I agree, creepy as hell. But it happens. Actually, shit like that happens a lot around here..." Naigus gives him a look, and Soul grins weakly back. He probably shouldn't bring that up, but whatever.

"If you're quite finished talking about people's personal lives Mr. Evans, you should be going home." The nurse informs him with a slight chill in her buttery warm voice.

"You kidding me."

"Not at all. Try and get out of bed." Surprisingly, Soul manages to keep his balance. It was mostly just his head complaining. And his chest. And back. Actually everywhere. "See? Discharged. Shoo."

"Little help here." Soul mutters to Maka. He doesn't really feel comfortable doing it, but he also doesn't really have a choice. She helpfully props up one shoulder, letting him lean on her.

"So, back to the apartment?" She asks.

"Yeah. No idea how in the hell we're getting over there though." He thinks a moment. "I suppose I could ride the bike."

"Uh uh." Maka tells him instantly. "Not how you're looking."

"Fine. Well, it's only a few blocks." As it turns out, that may have been one of the single dumbest things Soul had ever said. He was in constant pain the entire way, and almost started crying in relief when his apartment came into view. "Yeah... just drop me on the couch..." He gasps as they stagger in. Damn the couch was amazing right now.

"You hungry?" Maka asks from somewhere behind him.

"Yes." Soul manages to reply.

"Mkay. I'll make some noodles or something." Moments later her feet are padding around in the kitchen. She's really a sweet person, Soul reflects. And she was pretty impressive in the fight. Even with such a suckass resonance, she had managed to create an impressive wave of energy. Not that easy to do. Most of all, her quick thinking had saved him multiple times. The girl comes back over with a steaming bowl. "It's just microwaved stuff I found in your fridge, but I added a couple things." Soul slurps up a bite. An amazing cook on top of it all. She made microwaved ramen taste great.

"So. What now." He asks through continued mouthfuls of noodles and broth. And was that ham? He had ham in his fridge?

"Um, I don't really know." She sits down on the couch beside him, hands in her lap. "Um... well. Here's something. Where are you from?"

"Europe." Soul replies. "All over the place in Europe. My family is full of musicians. We would go everywhere, playing in big cities. Pretty famous."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. But I changed my name."

"Why? Don't you like them?"

"Uh, no. They kinda don't like the whole Meister thing. They basically told me to get out when I was twelve. Been in boarding school since." He says it casually, like it was no big deal, but the girl still winces.

"Sounds rough."

"Eh. So how about you? I heard Naigus mention Kami Albarn? She's a pretty big name around here." Maka rubs the back of her head, looking somewhat abashed.

"I guess. Though she gave up being a Meister. Well, officially. She doesn't have a Weapon anymore. Now she just travels around, never sticking around anywhere. My dad... he hit her pretty hard. She divorced him a month ago, but they hadn't spoken in two years." By the end Maka is barely speaking.

"The Death Scythe right? I've heard he's always at-" Soul thinks of how to say this. "the ah, seedier places around town."

"It's why they split up. He kept on seeing other women. I just... I never understood why Mama wasn't enough for him."

"Well. Guess that's a pretty good reason to avoid him. So, why the hell are you here anyway? You two are bound to run into eachother sometime."

"Mama wanted me to go. She thought that no matter how much I hate him, I shouldn't let it get in the way of my life." The girl shrugs. "This is the best school in the world for this type of thing by far. So maybe she's right." She looks downcast. Dead. Soul feels like he needs to say something. Sure their lives were pretty equally screwed up, but he hadn't seen his family in years. She was apparently dealing with it damn near every day. That changed things.

"Hey. Cheer up." He gives her a friendly clap on the shoulder. "You're gonna be a better Weapon than he ever was." It's the right thing to tell her, and she gives him a shy grin.

"That's the idea." Then she gets a curious look on her face. "Oh, just sort of randomly, but I want to change the subject and this has been bugging me. You and Stein both mentioned extracurricular assignments. What are they?"

"Oh that's easy." He gives her a direct, penetrating stare. "You go out and hunt monsters."


End file.
